Friday, April 30, 2010

First off, THE ZOMBIES ARE BACK! My current work in progress, Nevermore, started out an Urban Fantasy. However, while digging into my heroine's identity, I realized that the backstory I was researching WAS the story. I began writing and somewhere along the way, the zombie thread didn't seem to be working. There ended up being a fairly mundane explanation for the undead creature. Well, that was the FIRST draft. I'm now seven-eighths of the way through the second draft (where I make sure the back half of the story matches the front and that none of the threads have been left hanging) and amazingly, THE ZOMBIES ARE BACK in all their decomposing glory. Even better, the story works this way, the ending is much spookier, AND (this is the best part), I'm able to let the villain live to terrorize another day (or another book).

Secondly, I survived State Testing Week in all it's minimum day glory. Bored kids be damned, I even managed to get a little work done, although I won't be finished/finished with the second draft by tomorrow as I'd planned, I'm still making forward progress. Granted, three of the five school days next week are minimum days (is this some sort of conspiracy to drive parents to drink right before summer break when it's all kids/all the time?), but I'm optimistic that unless we have another viral outbreak, this book will be ready to start the submission rounds by June.

Thirdly, this blog will be going dark. What?!? No more posting, you ask. Heavens no. You know I love you more than that. I had an entire website overhaul done. The result has been to move the website and blog to WordPress. The site is stunningly gorgeous. Frauke, at CrocoDesigns, did all the work and I'm stunned with the gorgeous result. Come visit me at www.erickascott.com

For my MySpace readers, I will still be posting my blogs here, so i don't despair, the posts will still appear with alarming regularity (especially if I can figure out the RSS feed)

Oh, and I've been invited to be a weekly blogger at Written In Ink. I'll be starting there on Wednesdays in mid-May. Wow, with Monday Madness, Too True Tuesdays, and Frantic Fridays, I certainly hope I have enough to talk about on Wednesdays! LOL.

So, I'll see you "on the other side" of the internet and hopefully on a bookshelf near you soon!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I missed posting yesterday. Why? you ask. Well, our school district has "conveniently" scheduled half-days for State Testing Week (i.e., week from hell). This has cut my writing time in less than half. Oh, and I had this brilliant plan to hire a babysitter for 3/5 days so that I could get a break. Ha...our sitter still has to work (although in HS, she's a teacher's aide at the elementary school). Today, I might be able to slip off for a few hours. Operative word is might...Drama Teen has girl friends coming over to try on dresses for an upcoming dance and I'm not sure they'll be able to adequately watch the Kinderboys while they are doing girly things (or worse, I'll come home to Kinderboys in makeup and hair curlers)

So...here's my too true Tuesday offering.

The Wiggles (that kid's television show from Down Under) has made a significant impact on our family. Oh, not in the way of education or anything...but in our vocabulary.

We eat fruit salad (chopped up whatever I can find in the fridge) every night for dinner. And every night...someone says "Can you pass the fruit salad...(pregnant pause)...yummy yummy".

Friday, April 23, 2010

Wow, this week has shot by in a blur. Seems like just yesterday it was Monday and I had hours and hours and hours of freedom from tiny tyrants. Now, it's down to just a few hours to get redlines incorporated, edit a few more pages, and get ready for "Mom, can I..." "Mom?" "Mom" "Mom"...I swear, there are days when I want to change my name.

It's especially depressing when the upcoming week is State Testing at the school. Minimum days (home by noon) and yet another excuse for the school district to not teach our children anything. What, you say. Testing is necessary, blah, blah, blah.

Testing, I say, is a waste.

Case in point...I have two kindergartners. All next week is "testing"...there is no flipping way my kids are going to be tested for 3.5 hours each day on kindergarten lessons. Instead, they will test for part of the day, watch movies for an hour or so, and maybe do a lesson or two. For Kinderboy#2, school comes easy. He was almost ready for first grade the day he stepped into the classroom back in August. For Kinderboy#1, he'll be lucky if he even completes the testing he is supposed to do. Not so much because he can't, but because without the proper motivation (rewards of toys and candy), he won't want to. I've heard the treasure boxes are fully stocked in preparation, so I have my fingers crossed he's in a cooperative mood next week.

Then there is Drama Teen. School has never come easy for her. She has some ADD issues that have been around since her kindergarten days. And as for math...well, I still count on my fingers and she inherited her math skills from me. Need I say more? She "tests" dismally...so although she can maintain A's and B's in any class except math, I'm sure her State testing won't reflect that. So, what sort of information is that going to give the bureaucrats in Sacramento? Nothing definitive, that's for sure.

If, as I suspect, there will be little to no teaching/homework at the high school level next week, I have a devious plan to get some writing done and get away from my children for a few hours. I'm going to hire Drama Teen's friend and have them co-babysit the boys while I sneak off to the library and/or Panera Bread for an hour or three at least 3 days next week. It's the only way I can think of to preserve my sanity because, oh, did I forget to tell you...the week after next is parent/teacher conferences and guess what...MINIMUM DAYS most of that week too! ACK!!!

Tucker came to live with us when he was six months old. Marriage preparations between me and Mr. Wonderful were in full swing and for her bridesmaid's gift, Drama Teen (who was then only 10) wanted a Labrador puppy like in a popular toilet paper commercial. When a "puppy" was found on the flightline at Edwards AFB where I worked at the time, I thought it was fate and adopted him (after we tried unsuccessfully to find his owner).

Then, the trouble with puppies reared it's head. I've always been a cat person (we had two of them)...I never realized puppies did chew everything, pee on everything, and chase cats. Sigh. About a year into the relationship, pee spots began appearing in odd places. On the floor, a briefcase, puddles here there and everywhere. An examination of the walls with black light revealed lots and lots of pee.

Tucker had been "chemically" fixed. The vet determined it hadn't "took" (gulp), so Tucker had the traditional cut and snip done. Problem solved, so I thought. Still, pee continued to make occasional appearances on walls and surfaces. Then about six month later, I caught Tucker peeing on the wall RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. Off to the pound he went. It was a Friday evening...

Saturday, I told my mom the dog was gone and what he'd been up to. She celebrated (she doesn't much care for pets, period)

Plagued by doubts about doing the right thing all weekend, I was alarmed when I found a fresh spot of pee on Sunday. Gazing around, my eyes came to rest on our adorable, loving, male kitty. Yep...seems like Pikachu and Tucker had been having a peeing contest in the house. Unfortunately for the dog, Pikachu was sneakier.

Monday morning, I offloaded a huge lie to the staff at the shelter and brought a tramatized doggy home. Pikachu, instead, had to be re-homed. And then, later, the other cat due to a similar problem. Our house has been pee free since and I've come to realize I really do like dogs.

So, where does the lie come in?

I sortof never told my mom that we picked Tucker back up. She was so happy to see him gone, and I have this insane need for "parental approval". Needless to say, it's almost five years later...and she still doesn't know we have a dog. When she's come to visit, it's been a bit of a juggling/magic act to keep him out of the picture... And after five years, I'm really not sure how to just "fess up to the matter.

Monday, April 19, 2010

First off, I know this is going to sound childish...but I have to rant.

After spending Thursday with a sick child, Friday contracting the virus (although I got a bit of work done), all day Saturday sick, Sunday feeling like someone wiped the floor of a NY taxi with me, I wake up this morning to....

Kinderboy#2 with PINKEYE...AGAIN. School rules...they can't come to school until they are treated. The Dr. has called in drops...they "might" be ready for pickup around 2 pm (oh, right after school lets out...gee, thanks)

So...yet another TOTALLY unproductive day. Oh, but there's the rest of the week...right? No...tomorrow is housekeeping...they'll be here for 2-2.5 hours, ruining what little concentration I have. By then, I'll probably have another 1 to 2 children home sick. I admire people who can write in the middle of chaos, but I'm not one of them.

Oh, and just in case I DO get any work done this week...the school has state testing next week...Minimum days all week, THEN, because they don't like taking care of the kids any more than the parents do and they have the power to foist them off, they scheduled minimum days for 3/5 of the next week for "parent-teacher conferences.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

On Thursday, Kinderboy#1 came home from school with a stomach ache. The school nurse told me he'd thrown up. Then, she dropped unwelcome news into my lap (figuratively). "There's an awful virus going around. All the kids are getting it."

Friday dawned, Kinderboy#1 felt better, kidlets went off to school, all was well... yeah, that was just Fate having a good laugh at my expense.

4:58 am Saturday morning. I woke up, feeling like crud and crawled out the living room to sit in the dark, hoping the nausea and tummy ache would go away. It didn't. By 9 am, I was in full-blown sickness mode. Luckily Mr. Wonderful pitched in and ran to the store for lemon-lime full-sugar soda and various tummy ailment medications. He then took the boys out on their scooters to run around the neighborhood. When he got back, he collapsed on the sofa and gave himself over to the virus - it was noon. Drama Teen was the next to fall at 3 pm. Kinderboy#2 - 5 pm (right after he ate a huge plateful of mac & cheese - bleh)

It's now Sunday morning, it seems that most of us have recovered. Hard to tell with Drama Teen, she hasn't made her weekend appearance yet and probably won't until around noon.

Needless to say...I won't be eating Tyson Chicken Nuggets anytime in the near future. Sorry Tyson!

Sometime on Friday, I had a brilliant Ah-ha moment regarding my historical romance. Boy, would it up the tension, blah, blah, blah... it wasn't until sometime during my recovery last night that I realized the timeline is off, off, off...ten years off. So, unless I want to decrease the age of my heroine (which I am considering), I'll have to figure out what little bits and pieces I changed to "up" the tension.